An Average Day

Today was a relatively average day, so I think I will recount what a normal day is for me.

I wake up at around 6:30 am, eat breakfast, make my lunch, get my backpack and horn ready, get my coat and hat on and leave the house at 7:14. I walk to the bus stop, which is approximately two blocks from my house. The bus leaves at around 7:20 and arrives at the high school around 7:30. I then leave my horn in the band room and head to my locker, where I drop off my coat and hat. I then go to the school library to participate in the daily trivia contest, where I am about the middle of the pack. I then head to my first class.

My first class is Spanish V, which runs from 7:50 to 9:00 (7:50 to 8:55 on Tuesdays). We go over any homework that was assigned for the date and sometimes the teacher checks to see that it was completed. Then we move on to various group activities and worksheets where we have to speak and write Spanish. Unfortunately, our school has a trimester system, which is a major drawback for foreign language because a class is only offered over the course of two of the three trimesters, creating a longer gap of time when students are not speaking the language. I took Spanish IV during the first and second trimesters of my Junior year and am taking Spanish V this trimester (second trimester) and next trimester. If it weren't for my ten-day trip to Spain last June, I would have gone nearly a year without Spanish. So naturally, I am just barely up to par on my Spanish, even though we are more than half-way through the trimester.

My second class is AP Biology. This runs from 9:10 to 10:20 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and 9:05 to 10:10 on Tuesdays with a 20 minute extention period called X-mod, where we get our weekly Principal's announcement and recieve information for school wide events such as formal dances, assemblies, and scheduling. The class itself is somewhat unstructured. This is our teacher's first year as a full-time teacher and she was placed into the Biology department as a replacement for the teacher who was orginally going to teach AP Biology, because over summer vaction, he decided to take a one-year sabbatical from teaching. Her inexperience with teaching can show at times and her teaching style somewhat reflects that of a college professor. This is fine for me, as I can understand all the concepts put forth in the class with relative ease, though her teaching style is hard on some students. Tests in this class are excerpted from the AP exam and have a slight curve to reflect the difficulty of that exam.

My third class and favorite is AP European history, which runs from 10:30 to 12:30 with lunch from 10:55 to 11:25 within the period (10:40 to 12:20 with 11:05 to 11:35 lunch on Tuesdays). The teacher of the class is Mr. Morgen, who is also the Cross Country Coach. He is a fun teacher who encourages a free flow of ideas and encourages critical thinking and analysis. He is energetic and loves doing what he is doing. Class periods vary depending on the lesson. Sometimes we watch a movie with historical context, such as Luther or Elizabeth, sometimes we discuss the events of a period and how they interact, sometimes we do tests, and often times, we do a combination of these. He has taken us on a field trip to the Chicago Institute of Art to showcase the evolution of European art, starting in the Renaissance and working up to the nineteenth century. He makes history enjoyable and intriguing in a similar fashion to how he makes running enjoyable.

My fourth class is Band, which runs from 12:40 to 1:50 (12:50 to 1:55 on Tuesdays). We are currently working on music for a tour of the two middle schools in Neenah and chamber music for the Solo and Ensemble Competition that is approcahing. Thus normally half the class is unstructured time where we study our solos and ensemble pieces, while the other half is a full band rehearsal of the pices that we will be playing at the middle schools.

My fifth class is by far the most boring. Keyboarding class runs from 2:00 to 3:10 (2:05 to 3:10 on Tuesdays). We do a series of drills and excercises in typing, which is especially boring since I am already significantly above class expectations in terms of typing ability.

When Keyboarding is over, I usually take the bus home after gathering my horn and getting on my coat and hat. That is, of course, if I don't have an after school meeting to attend.